Tourists flock to Shanghai for host of attractions and activities
Shanghai Zoo is crowded with tourists on Saturday.
Rain failed to dampen the travel craze as Shanghai recorded 3.0619 million visits by tourists on the first day of the five-day May Day holiday, the city's culture and tourism authorities announced today.
The number is in comparison to a combined 10.02 million visits from tourists recorded in Shanghai during the seven-day Spring Festival holiday this year.
Diversified activities, from exhibitions and performances to flower shows and coffee festival, are being held at landmark attractions such as the Bund, Great World (Dashijie), West Bund, Suhewan, Modern Drama Valley and Hengfu (Hengshan and Fuxing roads) Historical and Cultural Area in Huangpu, Jing'an, Xuhui and Changning districts, according to the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism.
Auto culture festival, guochao (Chinese-chic) activity, flower exhibitions and outdoor lifestyle festivals are rolling out in the five "new cities" of Qingpu, Jiading, Fengxian, Songjiang and Nanhui.
In the Pudong New Area, Jinshan District and Chongming District, music and food festivals are being hosted during the holiday.
A tourist takes a photo of a giant panda.
Shanghai Zoo in Changning District attracted a large number of tourists.
"I want to see Ya Ya," said 11-year-old Huang Jinxuan, from Guangdong Province. "I will fly to Beijing to see her."
Ya Ya, the giant panda who had spent 20 years at the Memphis Zoo in the United States, was back on home soil on Thursday after a 16-hour-long flight to Shanghai.
A mermaid show at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park on Saturday
Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park received 25,000 visitors, surging 39 percent from the same period in 2019.
It is estimated that about 70 percent of visitors to the park during the holiday are out-of-towners, compared with 50 percent in 2019.
All rooms of its newly opened Ultraman-themed hotel are fully reserved during the holiday.
Traffic policemen guide cars outside the park.
